Down with consecutive setbacks, the Congress national president Sonia Gandhi has sent a communiqué to her subordinates in the States seeking revival plans, organisational reforms, empowering the local-level leaders and also their take on party’s ideology. The Pradesh Congress Committee in Jharkhand has been instructed to prepare a composite response based on the inputs gathered at various levels by February 20.
The whole idea behind the exercise, which is followed by back to back defeats the party has to suffer first at the national level and later in various States, including Jharkhand, is to pull the Congress out of the gloom and revive the grand old party to bring it at least at the level of a respectable Opposition.
“I got the letter through email on Monday (January 12). We have been told to hold consultations at State, district and block levels within a month time. The consultations would be on ideology of the party has been so far, revival plan, organisational structuring etc. We will conduct group discussion involving various sections of the party and prepare a pointed reply to be sent to the party president,” PCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat told The Pioneer on Tuesday.
Following the clean sweep in parliamentary elections held in April in Jharkhand, the party went ahead submitting as many as seven Assembly seats to others in comparison to its 2009 tally. The jolt was so that none of its sitting MlAs, including the PCC chief could win their election.
The letter also intends to expand the party at grassroots level by making more and more people convinced to its ideology. “The party leadership is open to discuss even ideology of it and mold it a bit if required to counter the forces against us. I have called a State Working Committee meeting on January 20 in which the discussion on the points specified in the letter would take place,” added Bhagat.
An office bearer of the party said that the opinion gathering process would be completed before mid-February and after compiling the inputs coming in, pointed response from the JPCC would be sent to Delhi latest by February 20. The opinion gathered would be presented at the All India Congress Committee meeting slated to take place in March for final discussion and approval.